"youthful" day trip

The best thing about visiting Mass Moca was that Joseph told me I'll still be able to get discounted admission with my Student ID when I'm 40 because I look so young.

Sea Grub; Sea Sickness

Once again, we were closed for a snow day.


If we have school tomorrow, one of my classes is going to celebrate the completion of Moby-Dick with fish-themed treats. I'm especially excited to witness some of my students' reactions to gefilte fish.

As the shanty goes:

Over the sea let's go, men!
We're shovin' right off,
We're shovin' right off again;
Nobody knows where or when,
We're shovin' right off,
We're shovin' right off again.
It may be Shanghai,
Farewell and goodbye;
Sally and Sue, don't be blue;
We'll just be gone for years and years and then,
We're shovin' right off for home again!

As Tom Waits croons:

And the fog's liftin'
And the sand's shiftin'
I'm driftin' on out
Ol' Captain Ahab
He ain't got nothin' on me, now.
So swallow me, don't follow me
I'm trav'lin' alone
Blue water's my daughter
'n I'm gonna skip like a stone

So please call my missus
Gotta tell her not to cry
'Cause my goodbye is written
By the moon in the sky
Hey and nobody knows me
I can't fathom my stayin'
Shiver me timbers
'Cause I'm a-sailin' away

Necessary Perks

Yesterday we had a two-hour delay due to snow.

Today we are closed because of the weather. A special weather statement has been issued:

"IF YOU MUST VENTURE OUT TODAY... PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR SURROUNDINGS AND BE AWARE THAT TREES... TREE LIMBS AND POWER LINES MAY FALL SUDDENLY."

Who knows what tomorrow will bring!

New Invention Alert:

I've come up with a new invention: a pool floatie that you laze around on, but here's the kicker: you don't need a pool. It simulates the sensation of floating around in a pool while you're actually just lying on an inflatable lounge in your living room. It's cooler than the endless pool because you don't have to do any work, although I wouldn't mind having an endless pool in my cottage. Don't steal my idea or any of my others! PATENT PENDING!

swift post

Nukah survived his first trip to the city. He seemed happy to get back to the country. Stick around; I'll be writing more soon.

I found a "Wonderfalls" treasure in my childhood bedroom; so far, the lion hasn't started speaking to me.

Mahandra: So if you act like that little wax lion doesn't have a soul, then that little wax lion gets revenge when you start freaking out and thinking it's talking to you.


Jaye: Was that supposed to mean something? Is it a metaphor? Are you Satan? Are you God? Ok, if you don't say something in the next five seconds I'm going to assume you're Satan.


Mahandra: Like when Indians say that everything has a soul. The wind, your cellphone, the little smooshed-faced lion. They all have souls.

Artificial nature

Florida is beautiful if you squint your eyes and limit your line of vision.


My father and I tried to walk along the shore of the beach today, but we were banished to the road for part of our journey because the good people are replenishing the sand to keep the beaches beach-like.


From what I understand, they vacuum the sand out from the depths of the ocean and dump it onto the shore.

Speaking of death

I took an hour-long walk along the beach this morning. I encountered three dead birds on the shore. In my experience, it's rare to see dead birds by the ocean, which makes me wonder what this is about.

Life's great undertaking

While surfing this evening, not in the ocean, but online, I came across a brilliant, beautiful, and very morbid blog called The Daily Undertaker.


Check out this fascinating post about one designer's urn project.


This post is about an artist who designed bird feeders out of bird food and human ash.

After Cornelius died, I realized that I report far more deaths than births on my blog. I don't come into contact with many babies, however I'm not sure that this is the only reason. I can't imagine picking up a piece of literature that is all about birth, yet so many of the great literary works address questions related to death. Tonight I present the evidence, but no conclusion.

Happiness is a warm sun.

Nukah is visiting the big city for the first time. Yesterday morning, we drove down to Joe's house in Brooklyn and Veronica came over to play with Nukah.


Because Nukah's a puppy, he has to go to the bathroom frequently. It's easier to take him up one flight of stairs to let him go on the roof of Joe's apartment than to walk up and down a four-floor walk-up.


Nukah can't really climb stairs, particularly steep ones, so Joe has put his back on the line to accommodate our very special puppy.

Today we took Nukah to his very first dog run at McCarren Park where he played with all of the hipster dogs. He loved his new playmates and I tried not to be smug about having the cutest dog of them all.

I have the week off, so this afternoon I flew to Florida where I'm visiting my parents and the hot, hot sun. More updates to follow.

Conquered whale alert!

Tonight I finished Moby-Dick! If I've gained anything from my current teaching position, it's the will to accomplish this great feat. Along the way, I found a new book to add to my absolute favorites.

Moby-Dick taught me that anything can be a reference and everything is interconnected. One of Nukah's teeth fell out; somehow, this object will serve as a symbol for finishing a great literary classic.

Pam, if you're reading this, I want nothing more than to read all of the wonderful books that you gave me for Hanukah, but they will have to wait until the school year is finished. For now, they are stacked on my shelf, taunting me with their potential to take me away.

Up now:
A third reading of Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man
A second reading of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World
A first reading of Life of Pi

Another shameless puppy post

Joseph and I both had a snow day today. He traveled upstate last night to spend some mid-week quality time with Nukah and me.

Weekend review: seems so far away now.

Nancy and Nukah are learning to coexist.

Summary: Nukah keeps trying to become friends with Nancy. Nancy swats, growls, groans, and hisses back.


Joe and I revisited the Dia in Beacon this past weekend. I was reminded that this is my favorite architectural space for a museum. Nukah wasn't allowed on the museum's grounds, but we managed to frolic close by.

In the evening, we drove upstate to a bookstore reading by Rebecca Skloot, who just wrote the nonfiction account of Henrietta Lacks, about the woman who unknowingly donated her cells to science. The HeLa cells, as they were named, continue to be the foundation for scientific studies all over the world. Skloot's book is receiving overwhelmingly positive reviews and the attention of scientific and literary communities. I'm looking forward to having time to read her book.

Counting down these last few days until Florida!

National Crisis

Try not to panic, people. We're going to get through this.

photo credit: Joseph

4.5 months old, 35.9 pounds of Nukah

Lost and ground(ed)

Why didn't you tell me that the thing I needed to do most was get back to writing?

Why didn't you tell me that this breakdown of sorts could have been prevented with a little trip down fiction lane?

Why do I have to begin to plummet before I remember what it feels like to sink down into my stories?

After leaving a myriad of voice mails with friends, where I came close to weeping on their machines, this evening I created!

I wrote! I wrote!

Nourishment is mine!

Song of the night:

Patti Smith's Pumping (My Heart)